April was another kinda weird month for me. Revolving door visitors (whom I thoroughly enjoyed) and the ‘flu both played major roles in last month’s shopping. I still managed three shopping trips, had some lovely conversations, learned some things, and began to truly enjoy the start of the spring and summer produce seasons.

Wednesday, April 15: Springdale Farm & Boggy Creek Farm

As most of us do, I try to do things to distract myself from Tax Day. I mean, my taxes were filed a month prior, but it’s still the visceral reaction to the day that gives me shudders. At least internally.

My first stop that day was Springdale Farm. I felt like I’d hit the jackpot with the fava beans for sale. I’m guessing I bought 3 pounds. There was lots of fennel for sale, too. But, since fennel is part of my torture meal, I skipped it.

I didn’t really wander around the farm as I usually do. The gate to the chicken coops and the fields were closed, so I didn’t want to be presumptuous and just walk in. But, I did have a lovely conversation with Glenn Foore about the role of fava beans in Middle Eastern cuisine.

Boggy Creek Farm was my next stop. In fact, the two farms are less than a mile apart from each other. Very convenient.

Larkspur and Poppies. Boggy Creek.

Bee in a poppy.

I was talking with Carol Ann about the strawberries. She said that if she got any more rain, her plants would die out. (I think a day or two after we talked, it happened.) Her husband, Larry Butler, has a second farm about 80 miles outside of town, she said, where the soil is sandier. Because strawberries like sandier soil, any future strawberries would come from his farm instead of the one in town.

Makes sense.

I just got the last of the strawberries for the day.

Yup. More fennel.

So excited about the dandelion greens.

Arugula and Curly Mustard Greens. Peppery, bitter delights.

After I made my purchases (eggs, strawberries, dandelion greens, arugula, curly mustard greens, pork chops), as is my wont, I wandered around the farm for a few minutes.

Chickens on the loose again.

I have no idea what these flowers are, but I’m starting to see them everywhere.

Call me weird, but I like a little sun glare in my photos from time to time.

This was the day that I learned what breeds of chickens laid what color of eggs.

I was having a lengthy conversation with Carol Ann Sayle about the farm, getting advice on the best way to start a garden (clean the area, cover with soil & compost, let sit for a couple of months, then begin planting in the fall), talking flowers, and, finally, the chickens.

With all the rain we’ve had here in Austin (few are complaining about this), she lets the chickens run loose so that they can scratch and roost in drier areas. By doing this, the coop can dry out and be cleaned. When the chickens are out, they’re extremely entertaining to watch do their chicken thing in their chicken way.

When I showed her the eggs I bought, she explained to me that different breeds laid different colored eggs. Well, the shells, anyway. It makes sense. I honestly thought the color of the shell always depended on the diet.

So, here are the breeds:

Leghorn: white eggs

Ameraucana: green eggs

Black Australorp: brown eggs

A rainbow of eggs.

I’ve called you all here…

soon… Tomatoes. Many, many tomatoes.

Butter lettuce in the field

During my shopping, I saw that the artichokes are starting to come out in profusion, too. It’s not a vegetable that I use much because of the time it takes to prep them, but, I figure if I go all Italian and give them a good fry-up, they just might be worth the trouble.

Quite possibly the last of one of my favorite salad mixes for the season – Maria’s Brassica.

Beautiful purple artichokes and dill.

Frisee and a full head of radicchio. All you usually see of radicchio in the stores is the red core.

They had the most lovely cut flowers and something I’ve never tried before: kohlrabi. I bought 2 bunches along with a large bag of arugula.

Cut flowers at Animal Farm Organic Market Garden

More cut flowers. I wish I knew their names.

Not a huge stand, but what he had was great.

Something I’ve never used before: Kohlrabi. I bought 2 bunches. The outer rind is tough, so you have to peel them. And, the leaves are edible.

I read up on how to prepare kohlrabi and saw that most of the preparations use it raw. So, I just grated it with some carrots, tossed them both some thinly sliced red onion and a lemon vinaigrette, let everything sit for about an hour and came up with slaw. Delicious.

I only bought 3 things this time: elephant garlic, mint, and romaine. They still have quite a bit of winter produce, but I just couldn’t. As much as I love my beets and kale, I’m done until the fall.

Last of the purple cauliflower.

Elephant garlic.

Generally, with elephant garlic, it’s best to roast the cloves. It generally has a milder flavor than other types of garlic; so, while you can use it raw, you’ll have to use more to get the same flavor in the dish. I like to take the peeled cloves and slowly poach/roast them over low heat on the stove in a combination of grapeseed and olive oils. This way, not only are the cloves roasted, you also get garlic-flavored oil.

For me, here were the first heirloom tomatoes of the summer. They had three varieties available: Valencia, Cherokee Purple, and German Johnson. I love heirlooms because they all have their own very distinct flavor, are in general drier (fewer seeds), and while they are a bit pricier, they have more yield than the usual grocery store tomato. They’re not perfectly round, blemish-free specimens, but, heirloom tomatoes have their own knobbly beauty.

Valencia Tomatoes.

German Johnson Tomatoes.

Purple Cherokee Tomatoes.

B5 had a few peppers, too. I didn’t buy any because I didn’t have a need for them, but they looked bright and fresh. It looked like they had a variety of bell, jalapeno, and poblano peppers.

Peppers at B5 Farms.

After buying the produce, I headed to Tamale Addiction to buy breakfast for Husband Steve & I. Their tamales are very good and hefty. Two will set you up for quite a while.

Breakfast: Chicken Mole and Pork al Pastor tamales

From JBG: elephant garlic, mint, romaine

From B5 Farms: Heirloom Tomatoes

From Animal Farm Organic: kohlrabi and arugula

So… On to May. I hope to be visiting some new places and seeing some new vendors.

Now, for a quick recipe:

“Tossed” Caprese Salad

As we all know, traditional Caprese Salad is a layered salad of sliced of tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil leaves drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Occasionally, a little salt may be sprinkled over the top.

I like to use heirlooms for this salad because they are at their best here. It’s a simple salad that’s perfect for summer.

Basically, toss the tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil together. Add as much olive oil as you like (I just eyeball it). Add a little of the salt, mix the salad, and taste. A lot of mozzarellas available have salt already, so you want to be judicious when adding it.